A ventilation unit and a system for ventilating an indoor space

Abstract

A ventilation unit for providing forced ventilation of ambient air into an indoor space of a building is provided. The ventilation unit may be used to reduce the relative humidity of an indoor space and provide a more comfortable indoor space environment.

1 .- 41 . (canceled) 
     
     
         42 . A ventilation unit for providing forced ventilation of ambient air into an indoor space bounded by a structure when installed in a flow passage provided through the structure, the ventilation unit comprising:
 an inlet;   an outlet providing access to the indoor space, in use;   a fan arranged to draw ambient air into the ventilation unit via the inlet and expel air through the outlet; and   a controller arranged to
 access information associated with a target air condition (TAC) parameter of the indoor space air, and determine a TAC level of the associated TAC parameter; 
 access information from at least one first sensor arranged to sense a first air condition (AC1) parameter associated with the ambient air, in use, and determine an AC1 level of the associated AC1 parameter; 
 access information from at least one second sensor arranged to sense a second air condition (AC2) parameter associated with air in the indoor space, in use, and determine an AC2 level of the associated AC2 parameter; 
 determine that an adverse air condition exists when the ambient air with the associated AC1 level if introduced into the indoor space would result in moving the AC2 level further away from the TAC level; 
 activate the fan subject to the determined adverse air condition; and 
 send a control signal to an external air treatment unit fluidly connected to the indoor space for controlling an operation mode of the external air treatment unit to bring the AC2 level closer to the TAC level based on the activation of the fan. 
   
     
     
         43 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein the controller is arranged to determine that an adverse air condition exists when the TAC level equals the AC2 level while the AC1 level differs from the TAC level. 
     
     
         44 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein the controller is arranged to determine that an adverse air condition exists when the TAC level differs from the AC2 level to an extent while the TAC level differs from the AC1 level to an even greater extent, while the AC1 level and the AC2 level are both higher or lower than the TAC level. 
     
     
         45 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , further comprising the at least one first sensor or the at least one second sensor. 
     
     
         46 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein the at least one first sensor comprises at least one of the following:
 a temperature sensor, wherein the associated AC1 parameter relates to ambient air temperature;   a humidity sensor, a relative humidity sensor, or an absolute humidity sensor, wherein the associated AC1 parameter relates to ambient air humidity; and   an air particle sensor, wherein the associated AC1 parameter relates to ambient air particle content.   
     
     
         47 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein one or more of the at least one first sensor is arranged in the vicinity of the inlet. 
     
     
         48 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein the at least one second sensor comprises at least one of the following:
 a temperature sensor, wherein the associated AC2 parameter relates to air temperature;   a humidity sensor, a relative humidity sensor, or an absolute humidity sensor, wherein the associated AC2 parameter relates to air humidity; and   an air particle sensor, wherein the associated AC2 parameter relates to air particle content.   
     
     
         49 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein one or more of the at least one second sensor is arranged in the vicinity of the outlet. 
     
     
         50 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein one or more of the at least one first sensor is an external sensor or integral with the ventilation unit, or one or more of the at least one second sensor is an external sensor or integral with the ventilation unit. 
     
     
         51 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 50 , wherein the external sensor is a wired or wireless sensor. 
     
     
         52 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein the TAC parameter relates to air temperature, air humidity, relative air humidity, absolute air humidity, or air particle content. 
     
     
         53 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein the external air treatment unit is a heat pump or an air conditioning unit, or an air purifier unit. 
     
     
         54 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein the control unit is arranged to derive at least one setting parameter to be included in the control signal based on at least one of:
 the dimensions of the indoor space,   at least one AC1 parameter,   at least one AC2 parameter,   at least one TAC parameter,   an operation parameter of the ventilation unit, and   an operation parameter of the external air treatment unit.   
     
     
         55 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein the controller comprises a first interface for machine-to-machine communication between the ventilation unit and one or more Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices; and
 wherein the first interface is arranged to receive software updates via Over-The-Air-programming (OTA) from one or more devices over the Internet.   
     
     
         56 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein the controller comprises a second interface for receiving and transmitting information from/to and an application (app) accessible by a user; and
 wherein information received by the second interface is information relating to the TAC parameter, ventilation unit control settings, operation mode settings of the ventilation unit, or operation parameters of the external air treatment unit.   
     
     
         57 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , wherein when either of the at least one first sensor or the at least one second sensor comprises a particle sensor, and wherein the associated AC1 or AC2 parameter(s) relates to air particle content,
 the controller is arranged to deactivate the fan when a level of the associated air particle content exceeds a safety threshold.   
     
     
         58 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , further comprising a motion detector or an occupancy sensor for detecting the motion or presence of an object;
 wherein the controller is arranged to execute a specific task based on receiving a signal from the motion detector, the specific task being selected from at least one of the following:
 to lower the fan speed by a certain increment or to a certain speed setting, to reduce the noise levels upon receiving a signal from the motion detector relating to a detected presence of a moving object, and 
 to increase the fan speed to an original setting by a certain increment or to a certain setting speed, to increase the forced ventilation when an object is no longer detected by the motion detector, when a predetermined time period has lapsed from when the controller last received a signal from the motion detector relating to a detected presence of a moving object. 
   
     
     
         59 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 58 , wherein the controller is arranged to connect to a home security system to allow the motion detector to act as a wired motion detector, when operatively coupled to the home security system. 
     
     
         60 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 56 , wherein the controller is arranged to
 receive a calendar schedule of desired TAC parameter levels via the second interface and the associated app, and   control the external air treatment unit based on the received calendar schedule.   
     
     
         61 . The ventilation unit according to  claim 42 , further comprising a WIFI extender interface arranged to create an extended WIFI network surrounding the ventilation unit and/or be part of a mesh network.